Friday 28th August 2015, for many entities (read our post about what an entity is) is the GST Due Date for the GST Period 1st June 2015 to the 31st July 2015. If you are unable to pay the GST due then please note that: –

An initial 1% late payment penalty will been charged on the day after the due date.

A further 4% penalty will be charged if there is still an amount of unpaid tax (including penalties) at the end of the 7th day from the due date.

Every month the amount owing remains unpaid, a further 1% incremental penalty will be added.

As well as the penalties above you will be charged interest on tax that remains unpaid until it is eventually paid.

There has been talk recently on how the penalties mount up increasing the debt far beyond the original GST amount owing. Read More »

Going from a person employed on salary and wages to going into business or becoming a self-employed contractor there are certain aspects of this transition that you need to understand and consider very carefully: –

Finally, thank you for taking the time to read this. I trust that the above has been informative and if there is any aspect that you wish to discuss further please contact us.

Disclaimer: This publication has been carefully prepared, but it has been written in general terms only. The publication should not be relied upon to provide specific information without also obtaining appropriate professional advice after detailed examination of your particular situation.

As a Profit First Professional helping our clients to increase profitability, I educate the business owner / self-employed contractor that like all other business expenses, taxes must be saved for. In Profit First methodology, regarding saving for taxes, we encourage clients to have a minimum of three bank accounts: –

Their current operating account which is normally a cheque account which we ask them to rename as the Income Received Account,

A savings account named Operating Expenses Account, and

A savings account named Tax Account.

For the purpose of this discussion I will keep the explanation simple as to what I require you to do:-

As with anything in life you have the freedom of choice however also be aware that with every choice you make there is a consequence. In this instance you have the choice to either take care of your business compliance responsibilities yourself or to engage the services of a professional such as ourselves.

As a new start-up or new part time business owner do not fall into the bad habit of co-mingling your finances with your personal money. While it may be the easiest, most convenient and cheapest way of operating, it can have its drawbacks – especially further down the line. As a new business owner you need treat your business as a business, regardless of whether it’s a part-time venture or not; while setting up a separate bank account could mean additional bank fees and expenses, if you don’t you could be storing up a lot of hassle for yourself in the future.

All our clients will vouch that keeping their business spending completely separate from their personal account ensures manageability.

Last Thursday, 15th January 2015, for many entities (read our post about what an entity is) was the GST Due Date for the GST Period 1st October 2014 to the 30th November 2014. If you were you unable to pay the GST due then please note that: –

An initial 1% late payment penalty has been charged on the day after the due date.

A further 4% penalty will be charged if there is still an amount of unpaid tax (including penalties) at the end of the 7th day from the due date.

It would be very remiss of me not to address my previous post Unable to pay GST? Take Action Now without offering a solution on how to ensure that you always have funds available to pay your GST in full when it is due so as not to end up being unable to pay your GST.

I start by asking the question “Why is it that any Payments Basis Entity is unable to pay the GST Due on time?” Read More »

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax based on the consumption of goods and services and is built into the amounts charged for these items. At present, the amount of this tax is 15.0%. People who are registered for GST must charge and collect this tax on behalf of the Government and pay it to the Inland Revenue Department.